Share this:

The Lakers and all the noise and attention that surround them might be closing in after the Rockets’ tenuous hold on eighth place in the Western Conference, but the Rockets said they won’t look back.

“I could care less about the Lakers,” Rockets forward Chandler Parsons said. “If we win our games, maybe the Jazz will lose and help the Lakers get in if everybody wants them in (the playoffs). We control our own destiny right now. I don’t really care what they’re doing or who they play as long as we focus on who we’re playing.”

Parsons said he understood Kobe Bryant’s guarantee that the Lakers would make the playoffs, but said it did not concern him.

“He’s confident in his team and I respect that,” Parsons said. “He can’t guarantee us losing games. He can’t guarantee the Jazz losing games. Those are just words to me. They have nothing to do with me. I’m going to go out there and win as many games as possible. Just because he said a guarantee it doesn’t really mean anything to me.”

With the Rockets consecutive losses, the Lakers moved to within 2 ½ games of the Rockets for the eighth playoff spot heading into the Lakers game Thursday against the Timberwolves.

The Rockets trail the Jazz by a half-game for seventh.

“I have no idea how far away they are,” Jeremy Lin said. “I actually have no idea. I just think for us, I’d rather look forward, look at the seventh and sixth seed than I would the ninth. I think for us, the next 10 games we should take very seriously and do a good job. If we do a good job, we should be able to move up and we won’t have to worry about anybody catching us.”